Wagon-bed raiser



No. 609,796. Patented Aug. 30, I898.

' S. H. DRYSDALE.

WAGON BED RAISER.

(Application filed Feb. 21, 1898.)

mimnllllllil (No Modal.)

TE STATES PATENT FFICE.

STEPHEN H. DRYSDALE, OF GRAVOIS MILLS, MISSOURI.

WAGON-BED RAIS ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,796, dated August 30, 1898.

Application filed February 21, 1898- Serial No. 671,134. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN I-LDRYSDALE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gravois Mills, in the county of Morgan and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Wagon-Bed Raiser, of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates to wagon-bed raisers, and has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device for facilitating the elevating of a wagon-bed from the running-gear without necessitating any considerable space in the shed above the vehicle, whereby the operation can be performed in a low-roofed shed and without the erection of special supports for the operating parts of the mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wagon-bed raiser which is adapted to operate withoutattachment to the wagon-bed, the parts thereof being so constructed as to be readily manipulated at both ends of the wagon-bed without interference on the part of the running-gear or tongue.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wagon-bed raiser constructed in accordance with my invention applied in the operative position to one end of a vehiclebody. Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the raising apparatus. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, of the same.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin all the figures of the drawings.

In a suitable frame, consisting of side-bars 1, terminally spaced apart by blocks 2, is mounted a drum 3, extending beyond one of the side-bars and fitted with a ratchet-wheel 4 for engagement by a holding-pawl 5. Loosely mounted upon a reduced'spindle portion of the drum is an operating-lever 6, having a clutch connection with the spindle to allow independent backward movement of the lever when the space in which the lever operates is limited, as by the tongue of the vehicle when the raising apparatus is applied to the front end of the wagon-bed. Said clutch conapparatus.

nection consists of a clutch member 7, fixed to the drum-spindle, and the contiguous portion of the operating-lever 6, which is extended beyond its fulcrum, is adapted to engage the shoulders of the clutch member at both sides of the spindle. The operating-lever is yieldingly held in contact with the face of the clutch by a spring 8. Thus forward rotary movement may be communicated to the drum by means of the operating-lever, while the lever is capable of independent backward movement to obtain a new engagement of the clutch, said drum meanwhile being held from backward rotation by the holding-pawl 5.

Reeled upon the drum is an operating-cable 9, having two sides or members which extend,respectively, toward opposite ends of the frame and pass around direction-pulleys 10, mounted upon transverse spindles" between the side-bars 1.

The apparatus constructed as described is of a length greater than the width of the wagon bed and is arranged transversely thereunder contiguous to one end of the bed, one of said devices being employed for each end of the bed and being adapted for simultaneous operation to elevate the body uniformly at both ends. The length of the frame is such as to dispose the outer sides of the terminal guides or direction-pulleys beyond the sides of the bed, and the free ends of the cables should be attached in any suitable manner to the roof or other supports in the shed or other inclosure in whichthe vehicle may be located.

It will be seen that there is no attachment between the wagon-bed and the frame of the The frame is simply arranged under the ends of the wagon-bed, and the latter rests uponthe upper edges of the sidebars 1 of the frame, whereby themarring of the wagon-bed is not caused by the use of the apparatus, and after the wagon-bed has been lowered to its normal position the apparatus is free to be removed bodily from beneath the end thereof.

It will be seen, furthermore, that by reason of the clutch connection between the'operatbed after elevation at the desired height.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, What I claim is In a'Wagon-bed raiser, the combination of v a frame for arrangement transversely under and adapted to support a Wagon-bed, ter minal guides on the frame spaced apart at an interval in excess of the Width of the Wagonbed, an intermediate drum, ratchet mechanism for preventing backward rotation of the drum, an elevating-cable reeled upon the drum and having its members extended respectively around said terminal guides for disposition at the sides of a Wagon-bed, an operating-lever fulcrumed upon the spindle of the drum outside of the frame, and a clutch for connecting the lever with the spindle, the same including a clutch-disk and a spring for yieldingly holding the lever in operative relation with said disk, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

STEPHEN H. DRYSDALE. Witnesses:

JNo. W. KNOOP, CALVIN H. LONG. 

